Junk food is the name given to the food that maintains a low in nutrition and a high in the amounts of harmful ingredients. Eating junk food can have a significant impact on one’s health. Junk foods are usually high in sugar, salt, white flour or fat.

A few examples of food often considered as junk include fast food, sweets such as ice cream, candy, doughnuts, soda and potato chips among others.

The first effect from eating junk food is weight gain. People who eat a lot of junk food gain weight quickly which can lead to obesity over time. This extra weight then has an impact on the health of the body. It can raise cholesterol and blood pressure contributing to heart disease. The high levels of fat and sodium in junk food can also have a negative effect on renal function, even leading to kidney disease. Students nowadays buy a lot of soda and candy from vending machines in school. With this in mind, we can only begin to wonder what the future holds for today’s adolescents.

Junk foods contain negligible or no nutrients that are beneficial to the human body. Mostly, these foods are filled with harmful carbs, fats and cholesterol that do not provide any useful energy. As a result, a person who consumes junk food has a reduced level of essential levels of nutrients thereby causing weakness in the body.

A recent survey has revealed that every year several thousand of people across the world die as a result of eating junk food.

A stitch in time saves nine                                                                   

Zulaiha Naadu  Ali

 (2014 Batch)